From Eve to Prayers

Picture of the Day:

A zebra at Busch Gardens.

Quote of the Day: 

"Woman was taken from man's rib. Not from his head to be superior or from his feet to be trampled upon, but from his side to be equal to and kept close to his heart."

- Unknown

I am currently enrolled in the class Bible as Literature. My attitude toward this class seems to change daily; I range from enjoying the humor of the professor to loathing every second I am sitting in the room and having to listen to some somewhat scathing remarks toward the Bible. It is madness in the truest sense, and there aren't even Spartan men there. It is a sad situation. 

We got our midterm last week, and being busy I had little time to look at it until yesterday. We had an essay question, and we got to choose from a few different topics. I decided to take up the controversial issue of a woman's place as declared by the Bible. I am not entirely sure I will pass with the standpoint I took, but nonetheless, I found it a valuable argument, and thought I would share it here.

Women were not made to be oppressed by God. In my mind, they weren't made to be superior to man either. God saw that Adam was lacking a partner. It doesn't say master, it doesn't say underling. And if there is one thing I have learned over my years of reading the book and studying with people it is that what the Bible says should not be added to or changed to suit your purposes. Partner implies a sense of equality, at least to me, and marks a beautiful relationship. 

A partner is a friend, and someone you can trust and work with. Eve was given to Adam to fill a void; the perfect match to compliment all of Adam's shortcomings, and someone to share life with. That one little word throws out any argument that women were meant to be ruled by men. It also refutes the colloquial joke, "God made man. Then he got a better idea." As funny as that is (believe me, I giggled the first time I heard that), I find it completely unfounded by the Word itself.

There is, however, the manner of the curse that God reaped upon Adam and Eve for their disobedience: 

"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you." Genesis 2:16.

Now this I have always had trouble reading. It is like a part of me wants to ignore the latter half of the curse. Every time I read it I think, "Hey; weren't we created equal?" Still, perfection had to be lost when man lost paradise. Does that mean women are to be utterly controlled?

In my interpretation I do not believe so. God would never intend for a woman to be considered "less" than a man. He does, I believe, curse us as ladies in a different way to be ruled. I cannot say how many girls I know (me included) that would, or have, at one point thought they would give an arm and a leg for a relationship. Isn't that a trap? Relationships are to be beautiful things, but when it is all you want, all you think about, isn't that a way a man can rule you?

Maybe my interpretation is off. I am not a Bible Scholar. I am merely a woman trying to make sense of (what should be) the most important aspect of her life. Christianity is a walk, and nobody ever knows all of the answers. Nonetheless, it is always important to strive, and I will continue to do so. 

I have been contemplating the authorship of a play; it would be simple. A series of monologues that represent different prayers from various people who are struggling. I was originally going to write it and give it to my college group, the CIA (Christians in Action. You can check out their page here.) to help raise money for their mission trip that they do annually. I have not gotten around to finishing it, nor do I think they could perform it now that the Plungers (an a cappella mens singing group also at our church) take care of the show. 

I was thinking that the play would open with a campus minister praying for his students, and as he gets to each one, another spotlight coming up that revealed the student and their own prayers until the entire play was a giant, intermixed and varied prayer. The only monologue I have written so far is for a girl suffering from clinical depression.

It was the easiest to write, since it is something I myself suffer from. Here it is: 

I haven’t done this in a while. I’m supposed to try praying ceaselessly. [A long pause] Clearly, I am not doing well. I…I don’t even know what to say. Went to church today. I know you already know that. You know? Sometimes I feel like I just don’t belong there. It looks like everyone gets what he wants in life, you know? I don’t even know if my major is right. They say you can’t make mistakes. I don’t know if I believe that anymore; I think I am living proof that you can. I don’t understand. If you made me the way you wanted, why am I so messed up? I’m twenty years old, and I have no real friends, no interests, nothing. I spend all my time inside studying and doing homework to the point where I am sure I am going insane. I can’t even smile anymore. I used to be able to fake it, but now everyone can see. Nobody should be this empty. And people have the nerve to tell me it’s not real. Ha! Not real. I know it is. I feel it. I LIVE it. I’m sick. There, I said it. I’m SICK. I have to be. I am willing to wake up every morning and throw away the blessings you have promised me. I think that people would be better off if I wasn’t here. I don’t want to live like this! It’s not even living. I don’t want to be alone and lonely for the rest of my life because I am too hard to be friends with because my attitude is so down. I don’t want to think that nobody would miss me if I died right now. But I do! I do! Do you hear me? I do believe that. They go to great lengths to tell me I am a good person. That people are lucky to know me. But they don’t show it. It’s all words to them; they say it, and then they vanish. [Long pause, silence. Then quietly, she continues.] Help. Help me, please.

There you have it; the start of a play that I am not sure I could finish on my own. It seems like it would need a collaborative authorship, because I want the prayers to feel as real as possible.

This entry has been exceedingly long. I doubt this shall happen often, and I apologize if reading this felt like a chore. I guess some things just need to be written.

And you all know how I live to write.